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By the Wins to learn – Empowering children team
The life of Dr. Luis De La Calle, a decorated former monk from the Eastern tradition, is a unique journey full of ‘spiritual genius’ and humanism within the fields of music, interculturalism, research, innovation, and education, as well as philanthropic endeavors at the highest level. Under the direction of the distinguished American professor and writer Dr. Howard Resnick (Ph.D. from Harvard University) – advisor of this editorial project – the biography of Dr. De La Calle is being edited by renowned Peruvian journalist and writer José Enrique Escardó Steck.
This biography presents an entertaining collection of unprecedented anecdotes of his life in South America, Japan, India, and Europe. This began when he was conceived at a millenary Inca temple of the Sun, at Cuzco in Peru (the greatest architectural work of the Inca Empire together with Machu Pichu), and continues in how his contributions are currently used by the United Nations to promote the 17 SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals), for which he established original bridges connecting the wisdom of East, West, North, and South, through rediscovery and dialogue.
Dr. Luis De La Calle has been immersed in the above-mentioned ancient cultures, living among their communities and studying under top masters. From his roots in Peru as a child prodigy, Dr. Luis De La Calle taught himself how to play the flute at the age of 5. Having mastered both the quena (Andean end-blown flute) and zampoña (Andean pan flute), he excelled in Latin American music styles. He won several national music competitions as best quena and siku player organized by the Peruvian government and the embassy of Germany in Lima, and performed many concerts on TV and the radio, and in auditoriums.
In Japan at the age of 16, he studied for four years with the guru of ‘Noh’ theatre, Hideo Kanze sensei from the Kanze school (founded in the 14th century), having him as director of all Dr. De La Calle’s soloist concerts. An example is Dr. De La Calle’s innovative integration in his performances of Noh theatre (based on Zen Buddhism) with the Andean tradition (based on the Andean cosmovision), which brought him into concert and recording collaborations with the world-renowned Japanese composer Isao Tomita and the taiko group KODO. Subsequently, Japan’s Culture Ministry named Dr. Luis De La Calle as one of the world’s best quena and zampoña players. Hideo Kanze sensei recommended Dr. De La Calle to do research on the Indian cultural origins of the Zen Buddhist philosophy used in Noh.
During his travels to India at the age of 19, Dr. De La Calle studied and lived as a bhakti-yoga monk for several years under the guidance of his teacher, a practice which is central to his life up to today. Dr. De La Calle won the European Excellence Award for the scientific presentation of Vedic knowledge from ancient India and its music. Shanshank Subramanyam, a legend of South Indian Classical music on the bansuri, has been Dr. De La Calle’s teacher. India’s National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama of New Delhi, Sangeet Natak Akademi (An autonomous body of Ministry of Culture, Government of India), acknowledged him as the first artist in history to produce a multicultural solo album based on the Gita Govinda that was released worldwide by Sony Music International. This poetry, which is one of the most celebrated in Indian literature, is inspired by the soul’s love. Dr. Bharat Bushan from India’s National Academy of Music, Dance and Drama of New Delhi, Sangeet Natak Akademi.
In Scandinavia, his intercultural De La Calle Quena Flute invention resulted in acknowledgment by Sweden’s Lund University that he is the first-ever musician to earn a university degree based on a musical invention during his lifetime. Dr. De La Calle earned not one but three degrees, i.e. a bachelor’s degree in performance, a master’s degree in music education and a master’s degree in educational sciences. The De La Calle quena flute is the unification of the pre-Inca (the head joint of the quena), with European cultures (using the body of the key mechanisms of the transverse flute). Dr. De La Calle studied for 11 years jazz, pop-rock, classical European music, composition, and music education at the music conservatories in Denmark and Sweden (Lund University) under the direction of Prof. Anders Ljungar-Chapelon (French flute tradition). In addition, the National Flute Associations from the USA and UK, Sweden and Australia, bestowed on Dr. De La Calle official recognition as one of the world’s most talented flautists, due to performances of his compositions on the De La Calle Quena Flute at their gala concerts.
In Peru, Dr. De La Calle was awarded by the Peruvian Parliament, the municipality of Lima, and others municipalities because of the new artistic and educational approaches he created by inventing his new instrument, “the De La Calle quena flute”.
In Switzerland, as a current member of the research team on the “didactic of arts and movement” at the University of Geneva, Dr. Luis De La Calle wrote his Ph.D. dissertation in educational sciences at this university under the direction of Prof. Isabelle Mili on music didactics of ancient cultures based on oral traditions, within a western context of written traditions. His doctoral dissertation was considered by the University of Geneva as an unprecedented contribution to the academic world’s art community. In recognition of this contribution, Dr. De La Calle was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree by the National University of Education of Peru. An official ceremony was held at the Parliament of Peru with the participation of authorities from the Peruvian government and the UN where Dr. De La Calle received this commendation.
Thirty years of his lectures, concerts, and workshops worldwide have helped provide significant humanitarian aid in Peru and India. For example, he facilitated financial aid and medical support from the Japanese government to the Peruvian government to educational institutions and needy hospitals in Peru and helped provide free distribution of food in India as well.
Most recently, Dr. De La Calle’s foundation was invited to be part of the United Nations NGO working groups on Human Rights Education and Learning in Geneva to begin educational engagements with the concepts of peace, world citizenship, the full development of the human personality, interculturality, and related NGOs through the work of his foundation.
We invite you to travel through this unique and multicultural odyssey in Dr. Luis De La Calle’s biographical book, which we hope will explore your mind, intellect, and heart!
With your help, we will be able to finish Dr. Luis De La Calle’s biography. We will be donating 100% of the profits to educational and social aid projects conducted by Food for Life Global. To show our gratitude for your support, all donors will receive a gift based on their donation, either the digital book (from $10 donations), the printed book (from $ 30 donation), and/or a discount to take a variety of online courses through the Wings To Learn Academy. The funds will be used in the following manner: $ 15 000 in books production and $ 7 000 for translation. We are excited to share this journey with you and look forward to your participation.
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